


Wanderers

by Warp5Complex_Archivist



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-23
Updated: 2006-02-23
Packaged: 2018-08-15 15:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8062660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warp5Complex_Archivist/pseuds/Warp5Complex_Archivist
Summary: An ancient race watches in dread as a new world reaches for the stars. Will Enterprise be stopped before her mission truly begins? (05/11/2004)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but I may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Warp 5 Complex collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Warp5Complex).

Riyu Cho stared at the message board in his hand in disbelief. He knew his spies were trustworthy and had yet to file an erroneous report, but he hadn't expected to read this particular report for decades yet.

He looked up at Seebok Choi, his viiratu'chann ("organizer", roughly translated), who simply stared back at him, waiting dutifully for his response. There was a look of exasperation on his face as he spoke:

"I can't believe the Vulcans let them out!"

Seebok raised her brow, the first indication that she was just as surprised, but her tone was even as she spoke. "Very few civilizations in the galaxy are even aware of their existence, and those that are find them...harmless. A stumbling, bumbling race, new to the complexities of interstellar life."

"It's not so much that I consider them an immediate threat," Riyu said, "I'm just surprised that the Vulcans didn't try to tie them down one way or the other. They usually like to keep a tight rein on their 'pets'. It's as if they expect all their novitiates to become 'Vulcanesque' before venturing out into the universe."

Seebok smiled at that. "Perhaps these novitiates got bored with their training, or snuck out on their teachers. In any event, the Vulcans would not try to force them to stay on their world, unless interstellar pressure made it necessary. So...we should not consider them a threat?"

"I never said that. They are not an immediate threat, but you've seen the same reports I have. From first controlled atmospheric flight to first Warp flight in little over a century and a half? A species so ambitious is definitely a potential threat to us."

Riyu stood and walked over to the view port of his office. The transportable complex they were in had been set up on a large, barren planetoid traveling on a random course through space. Mountains on the object's rocky surface stretched high into space, blocking large clusters of stars that shone through the endless night.

He looked down at the message board again, then manipulated a control. A ship appeared on part of the screen. It was shown pulling out of an orbital shipyard, sailing out of orbit and flashing into Warp. Riyu ran the clip again, pausing on one frame where he could see the whole ship clearly. The vessel was ungainly-looking, but an accompanying engineer's report remarked that the odd saucer shape might help to stabilize the warp field generated by the simple nacelles.

He zoomed in on the saucer so that he could read the strange insignia at the top. "What does this name mean?" He said. Seebok came over to look at it closely.

"According to what we know of their language,"she said, "it can have many meanings, but generally, it is any advantageous undertaking, like a profitable business, or a fruitful adventure."

"Ah..." Riyu said. Recalling what he knew of the strange tongue, he said the name aloud:

"Enterprise."

Riyu Cho looked out the window again, thinking. Seebok Choi waited patiently, anticipating the will of the zoraan ("elder").

"Set up a watch on the Enterprise, and prepare contingencies in case they start to threaten our interests. We may have to turn them back ourselves."

* * *

She watched the repeat of the Navigation screen on her console and inhaled deeply. It wasn't a sense of fear or dread that she was feeling. That was impossible. Perhaps "trepidation" was the proper word. It was a sensation she was getting accustomed to on this particular voyage.

Whatever the sensation was, it drove her to stare unflinchingly at her displays, waiting for a moment that she thought she'd never see, mainly because she thought the Humans would never be so...audacious as to attempt it.

It was...unnerving to be so wrong about Humans in so many different ways, yet be so right about them in all the worst ways. They should never have left their star system. It was bound to upset the delicate balance of the galaxy in ways she could only imagine.

The icon moved on, ever on, until it crossed a threshold. As it continued on its course, she was surprised to realize that she'd been holding her breath. She let it out, quietly, then contemplated a course of action. Perhaps a subtle reminder of the enormity of the situation they were now in was in order.

"We have just left the boundaries of charted space." She said, matter-of-factly.

Captain Jonathan Archer, commander of the Earth Starship Enterprise, turned to look at her from his command chair. "Very well, T'Pol." He said to his Science Officer. "Steady on this course, Helm."

"Aye, Sir." Ensign Mayweather acknowledged from the Flight Control station.

She didn't let it show, or allow herself to feel it, but had she been human, T'Pol might have felt dejected that her soft warning had been so thoroughly ignored. Still, it would be prudent if the commanding officer fully understood the implications of setting their current course. T'Pol left her station and walked over to Archer's chair. She'd learned over the recent weeks that human ship commanders preferred to maintain the appearance of absolute authority and knowledge at all times, which meant that any dissent would have to be made without an open verbal debate. It seemed inefficient, since the best ideas weren't always heard under such a hierarchical structure, but unlike her fellow crew members she understood all too well the potential consequences in ignoring alien social mores.

"You understand," she said quietly, "that if we do not follow the star charts my people have provided for you, it will be difficult for me to act as a guide."

"I understand that perfectly." Archer said. "In fact, I understood it the three other times you've mentioned it since I said we'd be taking this course. Look, T'Pol, is this an exploration mission or not?"

"It is." The Vulcan conceded.

"The idea behind exploration is to learn about and see new things. I'm sure the Vulcan star charts are very precise and thorough, but they don't cover everything that we might reach with our new ship."

"They were not meant to cover everything, merely..." Archer cut her off.

"My point is we shouldn't limit ourselves to what's already been visited. We have a perfect opportunity to add some truly new worlds and civilizations to what is already on the charts. That's what we're going to do right now. Besides," he couldn't help but add, "you haven't exactly been much of a guide."

As he watched her respond, he noticed that T'Pol's right eyebrow went up, just a tad. He wondered idly if all Vulcans did that.

"I cannot be an effective guide if the people I am guiding fail to heed my warnings." She said. Her tone changed only slightly, but still noticeably. Maybe the raised eyebrow was as close as they got to an irritated expression.

"We've done all right so far without your 'guidance'." Archer said, unable to hide his own rising irritation. "We've conducted several detailed planetary scans, made two successful First Contacts, thus gaining two new friends in the galaxy..."

"The Klingons cannot be considered 'friends' just because they did not try to kill you when you brought back their soldier. As for the Axanar..."

This time T'Pol was interrupted by the undulations of the ship. Enterprise was suddenly rocked in its path by a strange wave of energy. The ship rode it like a schooner in a monsoon, throwing everyone and everything not secured in place off balance. T'Pol had to grab the railing to keep from hitting the deck.

When it stopped, Archer stood and looked around the bridge. "Everyone okay?" He said, getting a collection of nods in response as T'Pol resumed her station.

"Damage." He said. The watchstander at the Engineering console checked her screens.

"Ship's undamaged." She said. "No hull breeches or blown circuits."

"Injury reports coming in." Ensign Sato, the Communications Officer said. "Mainly bumps and bruises. Dr. Phlox is on top of it."

"Very well." Archer said. "Mayweather, All Stop. Lieutenant Reed, are there any ships out there that might have caused that?"

Reed, the Weapons Officer, did full scan of the surrounding area, then responded in his distinct British accent. "No vessels within range of our sensors, Cap'n."

"Very well." Archer said. He looked at the forward viewscreen, allowing himself to get lost in the stars for a moment as he thought.

"Engineering to Bridge." A voice called over the intercom. It was Lt. Commander Charles Tucker III, "Trip" to his friends and colleagues, the Chief Engineer. "Anything happening that we should know about?"

"We seem to have hit a bump in the road." Archer said. "How're the engines?"

"Everything is nominal down here." Tucker said. "We're at full power and there's no obvious damage. We can resume Warp travel at any time."

"Thank you, Trip. Stand by." Archer broke off, took another moment to think, then gave his orders. "Mayweather, bring us around on thrusters. T'Pol, Reed, I want you to do a thorough scan of the area we passed through. I want to know exactly what that was. Then we can..."

"Sir," Sato said, "my equipment just finished processing an incoming message. I think it was a coded signal piggybacked on...well, whatever it was that we just went through."

"Know what it says yet?"

"Universal Translator's going through it, but there's a problem. It's more mathematical than a language, as if whoever left it wanted to be sure it could be read by anybody."

"All right. Reed will handle the scans. Transfer the data you get to T'Pol's console. T'Pol, work with Sato on translating that message."

* * *

A few hours later, Archer was in his quarters having a quiet supper. Porthos hovered around his chair, waiting impatiently for the table scraps that he knew would eventually fall his way. The Captain didn't disappoint, and the beagle deftly intercepted a speck of beef that his master's hand tossed to the deck.

Archer was about to look at some paperwork when his doorchime sounded. "Come in." He said.

The door slid open and T'Pol and Sato walked in. "We have the message figured out." The Ensign said.

"It is a warning." The Vulcan added.

* * *

T'Pol had put a graphic representation of the area they were in on the main viewscreen on the bridge. Archer was examining it as she spoke. "The effects we experienced were caused by an energy barrier set in a ring approximately fifty million kilometers in diameter. It was designed to disrupt a Warp field as a ship passed through it."

"What for?" Trip asked.

"To get the attention of the crew, so that they would read the message propagating through the energy field. Through translation and analysis of the mathematical data we have found that the message tells of an unnavigable area of space further along our course."

"'Unnavigable'?" Archer said.

"The messengers called it a 'Null Pocket', an area of space that distorts Warp fields to the point where they will no longer be able to provide motive force."

"So if we had kept going..."

"We'd be dead in space." Mayweather said.

"How far away is this Null Pocket?" Archer said.

"Another five light-hours from our current position." T'Pol said.

"Any idea who left the warning?"

"We don't even know how it was left." Sato said. "The technique doesn't conform to any known communications technology."

"Have the Vulcans ever come across one of these things before?"

"Not to my knowledge, Captain." T'Pol said. "Apparently, we have discovered...'something new'."

Archer didn't miss the subtle, definitely un-Vulcan jibe, but she was right, and knowing that helped him make his decision.

"Resume course, full Impulse power. I'd like to see what a 'Null Pocket' looks like up close."

The Enterprise's officers went to carry out the Captain's order. As she resumed her station, T'Pol experienced that unnerving sensation again. If nothing else, Humans were consistently unpredictable...which of course was a contradiction in terms.

She might need to return to the homeworld for retraining after her tour on Enterprise was over.

* * *

Meanwhile, ten light-minutes away, protected by sensor wave distorting fields, a small ship watched Enterprise's progress as she resumed her heading.

"They're going on." One crewman said. "They're not even trying to go around."

The commander of the watch mission had expected that. These "Humans" were turning out to be just as problematic as the zorann had feared. He'd followed them on their excursion to the Klingon Homeworld and kept track as they met the Axanar. Each time they'd meddled in interstellar affairs, setting off a chain reaction in space relations that could undo all the hard work of his people.

Yet the Humans were about to make a classic mistake, one that might allow his people to conduct some rapid damage control.

"Let's follow them in." The commander said.

* * *

"We're in position." Mayweather called out.

"All stop." Archer said. "Thrusters at station-keeping."

"Aye, Sir." Mayweather said. "Holding station."

The bridge crew regarded the empty expanse of stars on the screen, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "We should be approximately one light second away from the 'Null Pocket' in our current position," T'Pol said, "as indicated by the warning message."

Archer approached the screen. "You'd think we'd be able to see an energy field that nullifies subspace," he said. "Malcolm, is the probe ready for launch?"

"Just say the word, Cap'n." Reed said. The trip had taken a few hours, and the crew had used the time to prepare Enterprise's offboard probe. The small sensor craft was waiting in one of the torpedo launch bays.

"The word's 'Go', Lieutenant." Archer said.

"Launching probe." With the touch of a button Reed ejected the probe into space. It activated on its own and sped away, following a preprogrammed course as it transmitted telemetry data which was displayed on T'Pol's console. The bridge crew watched as the device closed the distance to the "Null Pocket" without wavering, scanning away as the minutes ticked by until it reached the invisible boundary.

As the probe crossed into the zone, the area of space ahead of Enterprise erupted into a massive light display. Arcs of bright blue light twisted and coursed across the entire field of vision, drowning out the light of the stars. After several seconds the effect disappeared, as quickly as it had come.

"Captain," T'Pol said, her tone slightly altered, "I've lost contact with the probe."

Archer stared hard at the view screen. "Full magnification." He said.

"Full magnification." Mayweather said as he complied. The probe was nowhere to be seen.

"Long range scan." Archer said. "See if you can get a fix on it."

"Already tried, Sir." Reed said. "It's gone."

Archer frowned. "Distortion of subspace wouldn't turn something invisible, would it?"

"I do not have enough data to give you an appropriate answer, Captain." T'Pol said. "Perhaps we misinterpreted the message."

"I didn't misinterpret what I translated." Sato said. "The message didn't say anything about objects disappearing."

"Then where did the probe go?" Archer said softly. The question was rhetorical, but T'Pol answered anyway.

"That is unknown at this time, Sir."

He looked back at her when she spoke, then looked back at the screen. "Starfleet's not gonna be happy. That was our only probe, and it wasn't cheap."

"There is little that we can do about it." T'Pol said.

"Actually, there is one thing we can do about it. We can go get it."

"Are you suggesting that we enter an energy field that may deny us the ability to go to Warp and take us out of contact with our homeworlds?"

Archer answered as he returned to his chair. "I'm not 'suggesting' anything. Those are my orders. We'll advance to within one light-second of the boundary. Even if the Warp engines become useless we should be able to get back on impulse. Besides, I'm beginning to wonder just how valid that message is. Take us in, Mister Mayweather, one-quarter impulse."

"Aye, Sir." Mayweather said. He manipulated the controls and piloted the ship toward the Null Zone. Archer counted the seconds as Enterprise closed the distance on impulse power. Everyone on the bridge watched the viewscreen, anxious to see what passage into Warp-less space would feel like.

"Crossing boundary in ten seconds." T'Pol said. Archer took a deep breath.

Ten seconds later, the bridge was filled with searing blue light patterns, like the ones they'd seen when the probe crossed the boundary. Then the ship was buffeted again, much more violently. This lasted for about a minute, shaking loose objects to the deck and throwing crew members around.

Finally, just when they thought the ride couldn't get worse, everyone suddenly felt an enormous rush of speed that threw seated people into the backs of their seats and threw standing people to the deck. Archer kept his focus on the screen. They were barreling through a massive expanse of green energy that looked like a stretch of thin clouds.

"All stop!" He grunted, straining against the inertia. Mayweather acknowledged, and the crew was thrown forward as the engines cut off.

"I thought I said 'one-quarter impulse'!" Archer said.

"That was one-quarter impulse, Captain." Mayweather said. "That acceleration came out of nowhere!"

"T'Pol, how far are we from the boundary?"

The Vulcan, who had just picked herself back up, checked her display. "We are approximately 15 million kilometers away from the boundary."

Archer stood up and glared at the swirling green mass on the screen. "Any sign of the probe?"

Reed started scanning. "Yes, sir. Now tracking the probe, bearing 130-mark-7, 60,000 kilometers away."

"Confirmed." T'Pol said. "We're receiving telemetry again. The data we're receiving is...fascinating."

Archer needed to get his bearings. "Hoshi, have Commander Tucker report to the Situation Room. Malcolm, T'Pol, I'll need you there as well. Let's figure out what's happening."

* * *

"The Warp engines were rendered useless as soon as we crossed the boundary," Tucker said in the Situation Room minutes later. "The machinery is working just fine. We're just not producing any Warp energy."

"None?" Archer said. "Is that possible?"

"It's not supposed to be, but that's what's happening. We had to shut down the core before the matter/antimatter reactions burned out the Warp coils."

"Well, at least that part of the message was true. Any idea what's causing it?"

"The same disruptive energy that interfered with our subspace field when we first entered this area," T'Pol said, "only much more powerful." She manipulated some controls on the briefing table and the screen in the center displayed a graphic representation of the Null Pocket. "This area is inundated with neutrino clusters, packets of energetic particles that interact like nanoscopic star systems. The clusters form into thousands of elliptical bands, which revolve and precess throughout the whole area. Under normal conditions, neutrinos can have a debilitating effect on a subspace field. Under these conditions, they are strong enough to turn any subspace field completely off. The race that left the message must have discovered this phenomenon, possibly by accident, then set a up a neutrino field around the perimeter to warn off unsuspecting travelers."

"Maybe," Archer said, "but I still want to know more, like what about that burst of speed we experienced?"

"A lensing effect. The polarity of our impulse emissions attracted the neutrino clusters, causing several of the energy bands to collapse in our wake. The scissoring of the bands distorted the energy output of the plasma exhaust, creating a much more dynamic propulsive force."

"I get it," Tucker drawled. "So instead of one-quarter impulse taking us the distance from the Earth to the Moon in four minutes..."

"...it took us 50 times the distance in about four seconds." Archer finished. "Aren't our inertial dampening systems supposed to compensate for such accelerations?"

"Accelerations at Warp, yes, where we're in a state of reduced mass. There is no reduction of mass at impulse speeds. There you're following Newtonian Physics, not Subspace Theory. It was too much for the dampening fields to beat at their current settings."

Archer looked at the display a moment longer and let that sink in. "I don't buy it." He finally said.

"It is the only logical conclusion." T'Pol said.

"I don't mean the science of it. I don't buy that anything about this was accidental. I mean, how likely is it that a pocket of space like this would come about by chance?"

"The odds against such conditions occurring randomly are approximately 67,354,272.53 to one."

The other officers looked strangely at the Vulcan for a moment. "I didn't know you could do that." "Trip" said.

"It is simply statistical analysis." T'Pol demurred.

"Well, okay," Archer said, "given those odds, do you honestly think that somebody just blundered into a phenomenon like this?"

It was the first time he'd ever seen T'Pol at a loss for anything to say. The happy circumstance only lasted a moment. "It is possible. We blundered into it."

"No we didn't." Reed said. "We blundered into the lighter effect surrounding it. That message and the neutrino ring were probably meant to scare off the curious, not potential lost souls. I'll wager whoever left it didn't expect anybody to go further. We did, and now we're in a place where the speed advantage given by Warp travel is nullified, but where the best impulse drive can dominate any engagement."

"Your suspicious nature is getting the better of you."

"Then so is mine." Archer said. "Malcolm, have the scanners picked up any ships or artificial constructs in the area?"

"Not so far. The energy field is also doing a number on the sensors. I'll have to adjust them to compensate."

"Do that. And 'Trip', while he's doing that I want you to adjust the inertial dampening systems to deal with the impulse accelerations. T'Pol, until we know for sure that this 'Null Pocket' is a natural occurrence I want you to try and figure out what kind of technology someone would need to construct it. We'll conduct an area wide search when 'Trip' has finished making the adjustments but until then I want the probe to do a sweep of the sector as far ahead of us as possible. Dismissed."

The other officers went about their duties as Archer resumed his place on the bridge. He couldn't take his eyes off the energy field on the screen.

"What's really out there?" He muttered to himself.

* * *

It took some getting used to, but after some fits and starts Archer and Mayweather got used to navigating Enterprise under the current conditions. With the new accelerations all of the impulse power commands took on a whole new meaning, but between the Captain and the Pilot a new set of operating procedures had been worked out. Mayweather smiled as he flew, enjoying the new sensation of thrust that came with the enhanced motive force. Everyone could feel it. Tucker hadn't managed to adjust the inertial dampeners to completely blank it out, but at least now it felt less like a rocket ride to the moon and more like a fast car on an open road.

The ship was executing a thorough search of the "Null Pocket", crisscrossing the sector along with the probe and stopping at intervals to do full power, long-ranged scans. They had been searching for twenty minutes when the probe turned something up. T'Pol looked at the readings through her magnascope and gave commands to the probe to adjust its systems, then reported what was found.

"There is a debris field bearing 327-mark-80, 5.6 million kilometers distant." She said. "Possibly the remains of a ship, configuration unknown. The materials are alloys made of known elements, including traces of materials for warp coils." She paused for a moment, then turned and looked directly at Archer. "There is evidence of weapon impacts."

As Archer let that sink in, Reed spoke up. "Captain! Sensors are picking something up, bearing 084-mark-2, range 2 million kilometers."

"Is it a ship?" Archer said.

"More like a construct. We're too far away for details."

The Captain thought a moment, then decided. "T'Pol, keep the probe by the debris field and get as much data as you can. Mr. Mayweather, head for the construct, slow impulse."

At "slow impulse" the trip only took seconds. Suddenly the forward view screen was filled with the image of what appeared to be a space station. Archer ordered "All Stop", and the Ensign slowed and used the maneuvering thrusters to keep the ship in one spot.

The construct was a giant ring, dark grey in color and tapered so that the outer edge appeared sharp, while the mass was built into the inner edge. There were no position lights or marker beacons, so that only the light from the surrounding energy defined its form.

"The object is 1000 meters in diameter." T'Pol said. "Exotic alloy construction, no sign of propulsion systems."

"Any bio signs?" Archer said.

"Unable to determine that. Something is interfering with my bio-scans."

"Same for weapons." Reed said. "No way to tell if the thing is armed."

"Try to hail them." Archer said.

Sato acknowledged and took a minute or two to try and contact whoever had built the ring. "No response. Actually, I can't detect any communications signals at all."

Archer had a grim look on his face. He didn't want to let this mystery go unsolved. "Do you think there might be a way in?" He asked.

"One moment..." T'Pol said.

It was a moment they didn't have. The strange ship shadowing Enterprise dropped its distortion fields just as it crept to within 50,000 thousand meters of the Earth ship. The occupants opened fire, slashing an energy beam across the stern part of the saucer.

* * *

The entire ship was rattled by the impact. Consoles on the bridge sparked and exploded as excess energy surged through the power transfer systems. Some more of the crew were wounded by the frying equipment.

"Polarizing hull!" Reed called as another beam lashed at the starboard nacelle strut. "There's a hostile ship on our stern!"

"Evasive maneuvers, full thruster!" In this area of space, the thrusters would work just as well as the impulse engines in normal space. It would allow them to evade without flying away too far and fast to fight back. As Enterprise moved, the alien ship followed, still firing. "Put the ship on the screen!"

An image of the hostile ship came up. It was small, about the length of one of Enterprise's nacelles, and had a slim fuselage with inlaid warp nacelles. Large, bayonet-like prongs were mounted on either side of the fuselage, and half their length protruded beyond the end of the main body of the ship. The energy beams were being generated between these two extensions, expanding and lancing out at the Earth ship.

"Where did it come from, Lieutenant?" Archer said.

"It must have some kind of stealth technology, Sir!" Reed said. "I didn't detect it until just before it fired!"

"Wonderful! Mayweather, bring us about! Reed, load torpedoes and energize the pulse cannons. We're going to engage!"

Aboard the attacking craft, a secure signal was being broadcast to a distant relay station. "Report this to the viiratu'chann!" The commander of the craft transmitted. "Watch Mission Cho-Lok is now engaging the Earth ship inside the Shroud Zone of Station 457, in the proximity of the base! Repeat, we are engaging Enterprise! The Humans have found our Armory!"

* * *

Mayweather slewed Enterprise left and right, trying frantically to throw off their attacker's aim. The alien ship stayed right with them, pummeling the polarized hull with energy blasts.

"Reed!" Captain Archer said. "Scrape this guy off our backs! Aft Pulse Cannons! Fire at will!"

"Locking weapons!" Lt. Reed said. "Firing!"

A dozen plasma pulse blasts flashed from emitters in Enterprise's stern. Several of the blasts found their mark, but simply deflected off the attacker's hull.

"No effect!" Reed called out. "No energy shields! Their hull polarization must be more effective than ours!"

"Y'know, T'Pol," Archer said, "I've been wondering! If we're such a bad influence on the rest of the universe, why does everybody else have better weapons than us?!"

The Vulcan chose to ignore the comment, taking it for Human sarcasm. "Adjusting cannons to compensate!" She called out as another impact rocked the ship. Reed fired another barrage. This time four of the blasts impacted before the attacker could maneuver for safety. It didn't stay on the defensive for long. It came charging back in from starboard, energy beam blazing. Mayweather veered to port then rolled left, throwing the attack off balance. The attacker compensated by firing a spread of projectiles, two of which impacted on the port nacelle.

"Moderate damage to the nacelle!" T'Pol called out. "The warheads created some sort of baryon discharge!"

"Tucker to Bridge!" "Trip" radioed in. "There's nothing damaged on the warp nacelle that we can't fix but only if it doesn't get hit again!"

"We'll try our best!" Archer said. "Bridge out. Mayweather, I'm tired of seeing this guy on my ass! Do whatever you need to get us into a decent attack position! Reed, lock torpedoes on that thing and get ready to fire on my mark!"

Mayweather "gunned" the impulse engines seconds after Archer finished speaking. Enterprise leaped forward, streaking away from the enemy. He wasn't surprised to see it pick up speed to compensate, but he wasn't finished yet. Like all good "Boomers", Mayweather was an avid student of Earth's spacefaring history. He was now flying Enterprise the way Gus Grissom flew the Gemini capsule, maneuvering through all three axes as swiftly as the thrusters would allow. After a bevy of such maneuvers and three gut-wrenching moves to throw off the alien's target lock, the Ensign had the NX-01 pointed right at him.

"Forward tubes!" Archer yelled. "Fire!"

Reed fired the torpedoes in the tubes, but instead flying out at their normal speed when their engines ignited, the two torpedoes flashed to the target, traveling so fast that they left a blur of afterimages in their wake. The momentum slammed them through the attacker, shattering its hull, and the warheads detonated 5000 meters behind the target. Enterprise flew through the burning debris as it slowed down to thruster speeds.

"Apparently the nature of this zone improves the performance of our torpedoes' engines as well." T'Pol noted when the bridge had settled down.

Archer stood when he caught his breath and glared at the viewscreen. "Take us back to that construct," he ordered Mayweather.

* * *

"Put him over there." Dr. Phlox said, directing a crewman carrying a wounded comrade to a spare cot in a corner of the Sick Bay. The alien doctor and his small staff of medical corpsmen were doing a good job keeping up with the casualties, but Phlox would have preferred not to be practicing under such circumstances. He enjoyed his profession, certainly, but the scene reminded him too much of the horrors he'd seen on life-saving missions on a dozen war-torn alien worlds, and he'd been hoping he wouldn't have to worry about the same thing on Enterprise.

Still, it was apparent they had won the battle. The ship had settled down to a steady course and the crewman being helped onto the cot was the last casualty to come in. While several of the injuries were serious none were immediately fatal, so they would lose no crewmen on this part of their voyage. It wasn't much, but it was a fact that brightened the situation nonetheless.

Phlox was about to head over to the new patient when T'Pol came in. He went over to greet the First Officer. "Is there something I can do for you, Subcommander?" He asked graciously. He was impatient to get on with his work, but nothing could ever make the good doctor brusque with his fellow explorers.

"The Captain would like a casualty report." She said.

"Well, the most serious injury was to Crewman Epson. His right leg was broken in three places when a piece of loose equipment fell on him as he staggered on his way to Engineering." Phlox said. "There were three other broken legs, several other broken and sprained limbs, some very deep cuts and bruises. None of the injuries is life threatening, but many of the crew will be out of action for some time. I will have a full report written out and ready to deliver to the Captain as soon as I am finished here."

"Very well." T'Pol said, nodding. She was about to leave, but Dr. Phlox was suddenly curious.

"Are we heading back to our original course?" He asked.

"No. Captain Archer is heading us back to the space construct we located just before we were attacked."

Phlox managed a small smile. "Humans never cease to amaze. After all this, they still want to know the secret of this place. Do you think your people or mine would exhibit such determination after a such a battle?"

"I cannot speak for your people," T'Pol said, "but mine would not have gotten us into the battle in the first place. There is no logical reason for us to know what is in this zone, and as such it is illogical for us to persist in trying to uncover its 'secret'."

"Tell me, T'Pol," Phlox said, "how would you know there is no logical reason to unlock this zone's secret if you didn't know how that secret might effect you?"

It had been a day for rarities. Once again, T'Pol didn't know what to say.

* * *

"Watcher Cho-Lok was completely destroyed." A controller in the Emergency Action Center in the home base told Seebok Choi. "The Armory is preparing to launch a full scale assault on the Earth vessel."

"When the ship is destroyed or pushed back into normal space," the viiratu'chann said, "initiate repositioning. We must consider that area of space compromised."

Perhaps more than compromised. The Armory was the lynchpin of operations in any forward sector. Moving it would mean an area of space their people had had influence in for centuries would be left uncovered, and events would be able to unfold unchecked. The Humans had dealt a heavy blow to the N'homahd'jhipzhi, whether they lived to tell about it or not.

* * *

Archer's eyes were glued to the viewer as Enterprise approached the construct once again. This time he had no intention of waiting for an exchange of greetings or an invitation. He meant to board the station. He had already decided that he would take Reed and Sato, leaving the most important senior officers aboard the ship in case of another attack. All T'Pol had to do was find a way in. Archer was so incensed at this point that he was almost willing to use the transporter.

"Within scanning range," T'Pol said as she looked through her 'scope. "Searching for external docking ports...Captain! Several ports along the outer edge of the station are opening!"

Archer could see it. The outside of the ring-shaped station lit up as several bays opened, each releasing three spacecraft. Soon ninety ships had emerged and were all on course to intercept Enterprise.

"Same configuration as the ship we first encountered." Reed said. "All of them."

Archer grimaced as he forced himself to relax in the chair. He had just come to a moment of truth. The choice was simple: Stay or Go?

"Best speed to the center of the ring, Mr. Mayweather." He said, quiet determination in his voice.

* * *

The enemy ships swarmed like locusts as Enterprise rushed for the ring at full thruster. The bridge crew tried hard to follow the Captain's example, ignoring the energy blasts that rained into the polarized hull, causing small explosions and fires everywhere. Mayweather barely flinched when part of the helm console sparked and buttons flew.

It was a short, exciting trip, but the ship was soon sailing into the center of the large ring. "Navigate the inner edge!" Archer said. "Best Speed!"

"Aye, sir!" Mayweather said, then steered Enterprise to the inner edge of the ring. He pulled up deftly just a few meters away from the alien hull, and soon the Earth ship was transiting along the surface as fast as the Ensign could fly her and maintain control. For a few seconds the aim of the attackers was thrown off, and several of the incoming bolts resulted in what the military used to call "red-on-red" damage. Reed tried to capitalize on the confusion by firing a barrage of pulse bolts in all directions, scoring several hits.

"Reed! Forget the attackers! Blast the ring with the cannons!" Archer said.

"Aye, sir!" Reed said, and soon a stream of pulse blasts preceded Enterprise around the ring. The explosions rattled the ship in its path, but the proximity of the attack defeated the polarization of the ring's hull. Debris flew off in all directions, further confusing the aim of the attack ships.

"So much for exploring it!" Sato called out.

"In this situation, I don't mind exploring a wreck!" Archer said.

* * *

"They're using the base for cover!" The controller said. "It's being destroyed as they maneuver!"

Seebok frowned. "I'd hate to lose the Armory as well as the sector, but we'll just have to replace what we can. Press the attack."

* * *

"T'Pol! Can you find the power source in this thing?" Archer asked.

"At this distance, yes!" T'Pol said.

"Are you still in control of the probe?"

"Yes, I am!"

"How precisely can you guide it?"

Understanding showed in T'Pol's face. "As precisely as necessary, Captain!"

"Then I have one more job for it!"

* * *

The crew of Watcher Zee-Kon maneuvered their attack ship wildly in an effort to get a clear shot at the alien vessel while avoiding debris and the fire of their compatriots. They had to coordinate some kind of massive attack, and fast! Enterprise was causing more and more damage with each lap around the ring.

"There's a small object approaching at high speed!" One of the crew called out. The commander checked his scope.

"Is it a missile?" He said as he checked its course. It was headed right for the station.

"Doubtful. It appears to be the robot probe that the alien ship launched."

The commander checked the speed of the object. The alien ship was already right on top of the station. What did they need to see so badly that they needed to barrel the probe in like...?

As the answer came to him his blood ran cold. "Break off to intercept the probe!"

"Commander...?" The pilot said.

"Now, you fool!" The commander said. Soon he felt the attack craft lunge as it sped away from the battle, swinging into a loop that the pilot was sure would intercept the probe's track.

He was too late. By the time the craft was in a position to attack the probe it was already completing its run. It had burned out its impulse engines to get to the station, and one final burst of power sent it slamming through the hull. It buried itself three decks deep before it exploded, sending explosive shockwaves through the interior of the ring, rupturing the power core in the process.

Enterprise broke away from the ring just before the core blew, exploding the ring from within. The shockwaves reached out through the Null Zone, shattering any vessel directly in their path. Most of the attackers were destroyed or heavily damaged, while the rest fled as fast as they could. Debris was propelled all over, damaging everything not lost in the blast.

* * *

"The construct is destroyed," T'Pol reported when the shockwaves died down. "All but ten of the attackers are destroyed or dead in space."

"Be ready for anything." Archer said.

* * *

"The Armory is destroyed, viiratu'chann." The controller said.

"Order a retreat." Seebok Choi said. "The mission there is unsalvageable."

* * *

"They're leaving!" Reed said. The ten attack ships remaining veered away and headed for where the entry point was.

"Follow them!" Archer said. "I want to know what's going on and they have all the answers!"

"We must exit quickly, Captain." T'Pol said. "My readings indicate that the Null Zone is collapsing in on itself. The construct must have been maintaining it."

"Full Impulse, Mr. Mayweather!" Archer said. The ship leaped forward as Archer thought. The enemy ships were keeping ahead of the ship. They wouldn't overtake any of them before they got out of the zone. "We need to tag one. Reed, try to use a missile to deal one a glancing blow."

"On it." Reed said, and a minute later he had the targeting done. He fired a missile, which streaked away and detonated near one of the trailing ships just before it exited the Zone. "Got him! He's trailing debris from one of his Warp nacelles."

"Good shooting!" Archer said.

Enterprise was out of the Zone minutes later. It appeared that all the attack ships had vanished, but Archer assumed they had gone into stealth mode, and the one he wanted was still trailing debris. The crew took the time to make quick repairs and reset the inertial dampening fields.

The damaged enemy ship was leaving a ragged Warp signature. "Probably due to the damage to his nacelle." "Trip" said when they were ready to take up the pursuit. He had come to the Bridge and was running Engineering from a bridge console. "He's not doing much better than Warp 1.7."

"He can't get very far at that speed." Archer said.

"True, but with the damage to our nacelle we can't do better than Warp 3. Until we make more complete repairs..."

"No time. Warp 3 will have to do. T'Pol, any idea where he might be headed?"

"There is a small system approximately 0.95 light-years from here. A small sun and three planets, one Earth-type. His Warp signature indicates he is headed there."

"Then let's plan a warm welcome. Mr. Mayweather, set course for that system. Warp 3."

Later, Enterprise was hidden behind the small moon of one of the gas giants in the system. Her crew was making major repairs while they awaited the arrival of the attacker. When the alien ship entered the system Archer halted all repairs and brought his ship to Red Alert. Enterprise stayed where she was, and they watched as the ship landed on the Earth-type planet.

"They probably went down to affect repairs." Archer said. "'Trip', get a shuttlepod ready. I'm going down there to have a word with our 'new friends'."

* * *

T'Pol was at the controls of the shuttlepod as it descended to the surface of the Earth-type planet. The small spacecraft was crowded with the team Archer had selected. Accompanying him and T'Pol to the planet were Reed, Sato and two security crewmen. Everyone aboard was armed with phase pistols, while the security people also brought along pulse rifles. Given the reception they'd received upon discovering the Null Pocket, Archer wanted to be ready for anything. Tucker had ached to join the landing party, but had more pressing matters to attend to aboard Enterprise. He kept the ship hidden near the gas giant as he affected repairs on the hull polarization systems, damaged warp nacelle and other problems.

"There they are." Archer said. The shuttlepod's sensors led them to the crash site, and he could spot a pillar of smoke through the cockpit glass. T'Pol headed for it, and a few minutes later the small craft had settled down beside the wrecked attacker.

The landing party disembarked and checked their weapons. "Make sure your phase pistols are set for stun," Archer said, "and use the pulse rifles sparingly. I want to bring back someone who can talk. Chandler, you stay by the shuttlepod in case one of them comes back to the wreck."

The security crewman nodded and stood by the shuttlepod while the others walked toward the wreck and surveyed the scene. They were in a hilly, rocky desert, dotted with spotty vegetation and dust devils. The wreck and the shuttlepod were on the edge of a rocky outcropping.

T'Pol began scanning the wreck with her computer when they reached it. "This technology does not correspond to any known civilization." She said.

"I'm more concerned with the people that ran it than the ship itself." Archer said. "There are caves in these hills. The crew, if it survived, is probably hiding in one of them."

"There are no bio-signs in the wreck." T'Pol noted.

"Do we split up?" Reed said.

"We'd cover more ground." Sato said.

Archer was pondering the idea when an explosion threw him off his feet. When he recovered, he saw that the wreck had been completely incinerated. Another explosion rattled the dust near the shuttlepod.

"Incendiary mortars!" Reed called out.

"Chandler! Get the shuttlepod airborne!" Archer called to the security crewman.

Chandler scrambled back into the craft just as another blast gave the attackers the pod's range. He had been rushing through the pre-flight when a third mortar found its mark. The shuttlepod went up like a roman candle.

"Damn!" Archer said as he scanned the surrounding cliffs. He found the attackers just as they switched to hand-held weapons. Energy blasts fell around the landing party as they scattered.

"Reed! Sato, Ross!" Archer said, pointing. "The cave up there! Return fire!"

The two bridge officers and the security crewman started shooting with their phase pistols, but the range was long and the enemy had the high ground. More energy blasts rained down, pinning the Starfleet crew to the sand. Archer crawled over to T'Pol.

* * *

"We need to gain the advantage!" He said. "I have a really bad idea, but I need you to get precise coordinates! Specifically, I need to know exactly how deep that cave is!"

"Keep them pinned down!" The Commander of Watcher Roh-Kosh said. He regretted having to destroy his ship before repairing it, but the Earthers had come too soon. They'd set new records getting up to the cave and waiting for the enemy to set down. Without either ship, the Earthers were trapped on the planet. His people were trapped as well, but they were natural survivalists, and could manage until they found a way to contact their friends.

In the meantime, two of his crew were keeping the Earthers busy while he and his second were resetting and reloading the mortar launcher. In another minute, they would be able to blast the enemy into the ground.

He'd just finished locking in a mortar round when he noticed the firing had stopped. His men had their blast rifles held at the ready while they frantically searched the ground below.

"What's happening?" The Commander said.

"They disappeared!" One of them said.

"What are you babbling about?"

"They were there one moment, then there was a reflection of some kind, and they were gone!"

The Commander's second went over to the cave entrance to see for himself. The commander was getting up to follow suit when two energy beams struck his riflemen from the back of the cave and knocked them out of the entrance. A pulse of energy sent his second right after them. The Commander never had a chance to draw his weapon and turn on the invaders before another beam knocked him unconscious.

* * *

Archer and his team came out of the shadows of the cave into the light let in by the entrance. Reed and Ross immediately went to the entrance to see if they could spot the other aliens. Archer, T'Pol and Sato examined their prisoner.

He was humanoid, about as tall as a Klingon, with a large, elongated head and shiny black skin. His three rows of sharp teeth gleamed from his open mouth. His clothes looked like those worn by the Bedouins of Earth's history, while his weapons were recognizable but unlike any they'd seen before.

"How long do you think he'll stay out?" Archer asked T'Pol.

She scanned him with her computer. "His physiognomy is unknown. There is no way to tell how long the stun blast will effect him."

"Then let's not waste any time. Gather up his 'toys'. Reed, Ross, come over here." Archer whipped out his communicator and said "Archer to Enterprise."

"Enterprise here." Tucker's voice said.

"It worked, 'Trip'. We're gonna need another transport. This time we're bringing a friend back with us."

* * *

The alien was strapped onto a biobed in Sickbay so that Dr. Phlox could do a detailed bioscan on it. Captain Archer, T'Pol and Sato were standing by, the Communications Officer with a portable Universal Translator ready. Archer wanted to be able to question the attacker as soon as he came around.

The Doctor let himself get lost in his work, taking no time to talk to the other Enterprise crew members, uttering only an "Interesting" or "Fascinating" every now and again. Archer forced himself to be patient as the minutes wore on.

Finally Phlox turned his attention away from the alien and to the Captain. "A remarkable creature, Captain. Highly developed organs and musculature, very hearty and survivable. Probably evolved on a desert planet or some other harsh environment. I'd expect it to be very strong and highly adaptable."

"Meaning what, exactly?" Archer said.

"Meaning you were very fortunate that your phase pistols' stun settings worked on these beings. We may not be so lucky another time. This one here has an evolving cellular structure. The molecules of his body adapted to the energy from my scanner as I proceeded with my examination. The resulting molecular motions created something of a...bio-energy damping field, almost as if his tissue were trying to interfere with my scans." There was a slight smile on Phlox's face. He couldn't resist anything new and different as far as exobiology was concerned.

"Secretive to the last." Sato said.

"Do you have any idea where it might be from, Doctor?" T'Pol said.

"Unfortunately not," Phlox said, "and ultimately that might not matter. Given his physical nature he might be very different from his ancestors. Given enough time he could adapt himself naturally to any environment. For all we know he might not have a homeworld. It might have suffered some great cataclysm or been invaded centuries ago."

Archer regarded the alien for a moment. "Can you wake him?" He said.

"I don't see why not." Phlox said. "I detect no permanent damage from the stun blast. He would be reviving on his own soon anyway." With that the Doctor prepared a hypospray and injected the alien with the contents.

* * *

The Commander regained consciousness with a jerk and a growl of pain. He grit his teeth and tried to shake off the effects of the weapon that had stunned him and the strange chemicals that had awakened him. He took in several breaths to adapt his lungs to the strange-smelling air until he could breathe normally. Finally he dared to open his eyes, and squinted as they were assaulted with inordinately bright light. He blinked several times as they adjusted, and was finally able to take in his surroundings.

He didn't recognize the design of the space he was in, but could tell he was in a reclined position. Several aliens looked down at him. He recognized the Vulcan and the Denobulan, but the other two smooth-skinned creatures were new to him.

Then he remembered everything. These were the humans that had followed him to that other world. He had to be aboard their ship. It was the only theory that fit.

His fears were confirmed when he tried to move.

* * *

"Arryuthan'sha tharush!" The alien yelled at Archer when he realized he was strapped to the bed. He worked his muscles hard to try to break the bonds, but the adaptive bands held tight.

"Hoshi!" Archer said.

"Working on it, Sir," Sato said, "but I'm betting that means 'Let me go'." After working with the UT for a moment, she said, "Okay...it's 'Let me go, you...vulgar expletive'."

Archer chuckled without humor and shook his head. "All I want to do out here is make friends. All they told me to do was go out and meet new peoples, and what do I get? Shot at, looked down on and insulted. Tell him we'll let him go after he answers some questions."

Hoshi consulted the UT, then cleared her throat and tried the new language. "Syuthan'sha pashkhusan tho!" She said, with just the right amount of emphasis.

"Niiakhusan!" The alien shouted back. "Arryuthan'sha Katashyu'konsh tha!"

"He's not talking," Hoshi said, "and if we don't let him go he claims he'll destroy the ship."

"Then remind him that would be a little difficult to do chained to a bed in Sickbay." Archer said.

"Niiakatash Enshkonyu'sha molkonsh tho!" Sato said.

The alien half-sneered as he delivered his response in a menacing tone. "Minh'shya."

Hoshi consulted the UT again. "There was actually a lot in that statement, but it all boils down to 'Details, details'."

Archer threw up his arms in disgust and began to pace Sickbay. The alien watched him with every step, trying to read in his body language what the Human would try to do next. After a minute of this Archer stopped in his tracks, his attention locked on his Science Officer.

"T'Pol," He said and waved her over to a far corner of the space. He spoke to her in whispers. "What's that...mind-reading thing your people can do?"

"You are referring to the Mind-Meld." T'Pol whispered back.

"That's it. Can you do it on him?"

"I have never attempted it with another species before. It could prove dangerous for both of us."

"If it's too risky, I'll understand if you don't want to do it, but we don't know if any of his friends are gonna come looking for him, and Enterprise isn't really up for another fight right now. We need some kind of idea what we're up against."

T'Pol considered the situation for a moment, then said, "I'll need some time to prepare."

Archer nodded and went back over to the biobed while T'Pol remained in the corner, preparing herself mentally for the task. "Hoshi, let's try a different tack." He said.

* * *

"If you say to us why you attacked us, maybe we can come to an understanding." The Human female said, her accent slight but noticeable.

"There can be no understanding between our peoples!" The Commander spat back. "Letting me go is the only way you'll save yourselves! My people are on their way now!" He was only partially lying. His people were definitely coming, but this ship, Enterprise, could not be allowed to continue on after what its crew had seen.

The female reported what he'd said to the male in her own language. The male scowled at him, then glanced back at the Vulcan, who was standing in a corner by herself. The Commander couldn't tell why, but he had a sudden feeling that his need to escape was more urgent than ever. He worked harder to worm out of his restraints.

The Vulcan said something in the Humans' language, then came over to where he lay. The others stepped aside and made room for her. Her eyes were focused on his, and he was overcome with a sense of dread when she bent over him and reached her fingertips to his face.

The alien shook his head and squirmed, trying to keep away from her, but though her grip seemed tenuous T'Pol's fingers were steady on his face. Her gaze locked on his eyes, fixing them there until he stopped struggling.

"Your mind to My mind..." she said softly, "...your thoughts to My thoughts." She said it twice more, softer each time, until the alien was completely still and his eyes never moved from hers. Archer watched in fascination as she went into a sort of trance. Her eyes closed and the muscles in her face worked, alternately flexing and relaxing, trying to show the strain she was under through her Vulcan training. After a minute or two the muscles started to win the struggle. She frowned first, then grimaced, and with each expression the alien became more restive. When she bared her gritting teeth they both growled in unison, then howled with fury as the alien finally shook her grip.

T'Pol withdrew, body hunched over and fingers clenched in mid-air, and she had a wild look in her eyes when she opened them. "Arrthan'sha..." she rasped, then looked at Archer with a mask of rage on her face. "Katashyu!!!" She screamed.

Archer never had a chance to dodge T'Pol when she leaped at him. In a second was down, with her straddling his stomach. She used one hand to hold him down by the neck, strangling him in the process, while she had her other hand poised to pound his face in."

"T'Pol! Niiakatash!" Sato yelled. The Vulcan froze, blinked a few times, then looked around. Slowly she loosened her grip and lowered her hand as she came to her senses. The oddity of Sato pleading with her in the alien language brought her out of the trance.

"Forgive me, Captain." T'Pol said, still clenching her teeth. "I'll be all right in a moment."

"That's...okay, T'Pol." Archer said. "You weren't yourself."

"Still, I should not have let his thoughts overwhelm me." She said, the tiniest hint of regret in her voice. "On Vulcan, such loss of control is...inexcusable."

"Well, we're not on Vulcan," Archer said, "and I'd be more than happy to forgive you if you'll let me up."

T'Pol gave him a confused look, then shook her head and stood up, then helped Archer to his feet. When he was standing Archer looked over at the alien. His face showed the same rage he'd seen in T'Pol a moment ago. "Did you learn anything?" He asked.

"I learned a great deal." T'Pol said, looking at the alien as well.

"Should we keep him or let him go?"

"It does not matter. His people will..."

She was interrupted by the intercom. "Bridge to Captain Archer!" Reed's voice said.

Archer went over to the comm panel in Sickbay. "Archer here." He said after pressing a contact.

"You'd better get up here, Captain!" Reed said. "Something big is coming our way!"

"On my way." Archer said. "Hoshi, stay here and wait to see if he feels talkative. T'Pol, come on." With that, he and the Science Officer left Sickbay.

* * *

"It de-cloaked at the edge of the system." Reed said as they entered the Bridge. "I moved the ship so that we could keep the bulk of the gas giant between us, but it will only be a matter of minutes before they find us with long-range scans."

Archer and T'Pol took their places. "On screen." Archer said.

Mayweather put the image they recorded on the forward viewscreen. The vessel looked like one of the attackers they'd encountered in the Null Zone, only much bigger.

"It's four hundred meters in length," Reed said, "with high-warp capability and dozens of weapons ports. It began searching for us as soon as it de-cloaked."

Archer settled in his chair. "Your call, Malcolm...do we run or fight?"

"I'm not usually one to run from a fight, Sir," Reed said, "but I'm particularly fond of ones I can win. I don't know that we can at this time."

Archer considered that, then called Engineering. "Trip, how fast can we go right now?"

"Best guess is Warp 3.5, Cap'n!" Tucker said. "This fix is turning out to be tougher than I thought."

"Can we outrun them at that speed, Malcolm?"

The Weapons Officer just shook his head.

"Any ideas, T'Pol?" Archer said. The Vulcan's gaze was fixed on the viewscreen.

"Yes, Captain: Make your choice quickly."

* * *

Seebok Choi regretted that it had to come to this, but the humans had given her no choice. It was the first time in centuries that her people had operated so openly, so the human ship needed to be dealt a swift, decisive blow before it could expose them further. That was why she had taken command of the Osha'ziraan herself and gone after Enterprise. It was part of her job to see to the security of the race, and the ancient battleship was just the weapon she needed to carry that task out.

Now it was just a matter of finding Enterprise. She knew it had to be in this system. This was where her people's distress signal led her, and she couldn't imagine the hopelessly curious Humans passing up the chance to discover who they'd been jousting with.

Well, now they'd find out the hard way.

* * *

"What are we dealing with, T'Pol?" Captain Archer said from him his seat on the bridge. His eyes were transfixed on the image of the enemy warship on the screen.

"The Nhomahad'jhipzhi," T'Pol said, drawing on her memories from the mind meld, "a race of wanderers with a singular, ambitious goal: Shape the order of the galaxy to facilitate their rise to ultimate power. This is a goal they have apparently worked on for a hundred years, ever since their homeworld was destroyed by a race of conquerors. Their plans for achieving this goal require that they operate in absolute secrecy, manipulating interstellar political and cultural events one by one until the shape of the galactic cultural landscape makes an attempt to overthrow known space a feasible proposition. It is a plan that requires utmost patience, and has a 55,663 to 1 chance of succeeding if given enough time."

"So what have these...Nomad-gypsies got against us?"

"To use the Human vernacular, I believe we have 'blown their cover'. The space construct that we destroyed was apparently a forward staging base, used to launch covert operations into known space. Our intervention apparently set them back several years as far as operations in this part of the galaxy are concerned."

"Great. So I guess it's unlikely that they'll leave us alone if we give them their man back and promise never to reveal what we know about them?"

"The fact that we know at all is a threat to them. There is nothing we could do to prevent them from attacking us. You're only options are to fight or flee, as you have already reasoned."

"And we may not be able to do either...but we may be forced to do both." Archer rubbed his eyes, hoping he could force an idea into his brain. He was surprised when it worked, and it showed on his face. He got up and went to the briefing room aft and called up the scans of the gas giant on the table monitor. When he saw what he needed to see he came back onto the bridge.

"Travis, I'm going to need you to do some more of your fancy flying!" He said. "I have another really bad idea!"

* * *

"There!" The tracking officer called out. Seebok Choi rushed over to his console and looked at his monitor. Enterprise had just made a complete orbit around the gas giant. They knew exactly where the human ship was now.

But Seebok was wary. The Humans had been careful not to reveal their presence to this point. Why reveal it now? Could they be trying to set a trap?

Ultimately, it didn't matter. They had to chase down and destroy Enterprise, trap or no trap. Osha'ziraan should be equal to anything the Humans could throw at her.

"Best speed to the gas giant!" She said to the helmsman.

* * *

"Here it comes!" Reed said. "Should be in their weapons' range in four minutes."

"Guess they took the bait." Mayweather said as he completed another fast orbit.

"You know what to do when they get here!" Archer said.

"Aye, sir! Stay ahead of them."

"Can you do the modifications in four minutes, Malcolm?"

"My feet and fingers will fly, Sir!" Reed said as he rushed off the bridge. Archer took a moment to smile at the flowery response before he turned his attention back to the screen.

* * *

"Coming into range!" The weapons officer said. "In three, two, one..."

"Fire at will!" Seebok called out.

* * *

A beam a third Enterprise's width erupted from the enemy ship. Mayweather narrowly dodged it, then continued dodging and weaving as he pulled into a tighter orbit around the gas giant. The hull was polarized, but a few solid hits from that weapon would decimate the Starfleet ship no matter what.

Mayweather's jinks were erratic enough that they could be felt through the inertial dampening. Reed had a hard time staying on his feet as he and several technicians worked on a torpedo in the Armory. They were almost done with the modifications that Archer wanted.

* * *

The weapons' officer kept firing. Enterprise was certainly an agile ship, and certainly whoever was at her helm was an accomplished pilot, but it was only a matter of time before he connected.

* * *

Enterprise rocked with the impact of the beam, almost throwing the bridge crew out of their seats. Mayweather fought hard to regain control of the ship as T'Pol assessed the damage.

"Polarization down fifty-tree percent!" She said. "We'll be helpless after the next hit!"

That meant it was time to put the plan into effect. Archer called the Armory. "Archer to Reed! It's now or never!"

"It's done!" Reed called back. "Loading right now!"

Archer nodded. "Take us in, Mr. Mayweather!"

* * *

Seebok watched in amusement as the Earth ship dove into the gas giant's upper atmosphere. So that was their plan! It wouldn't work. Osha'ziraan could easily withstand the pressure.

"Follow them!" She said with confidence.

* * *

"Now where is it?" Archer said, watching the screen.

"It should be a few points off to our right...!" Mayweather said as he navigated the ship. The enemy had followed them in still firing, just as they'd expected. Mayweather had to shake off the energy blasts before he could make the turn, then gunned the impulse engines once he'd done so.

Then it started to expand on the screen. It looked like a solid wall of clouds, laced with traces of lightning, that stretched across the massive horizon. A giant storm, hundreds of miles wide, that appeared as a large spot from space. Rotating in its mass were thousand-mile-per-hour winds and lightning bolts the size of large buildings.

Mayweather headed straight for it.

* * *

"They're insane!" The weapons' officer said.

"Enlighten them!" Seebok said. Suddenly she wasn't as confident as she had been. "Destroy them before they go in!"

"But...surely they'll be destroyed when they go in?"

"'If' they go in! They could be bluffing to make us back off and give them time to escape!"

The weapons' officer continued firing.

* * *

"It's just a big hurricane." Mayweather kept telling himself as he checked the wind data the scanners were giving him. "It's just a big hurricane...just a really, really, REALLY big hurricane."

"Travis, you'll do fine..." Archer said, never taking his eyes off the mass of clouds closing in rapidly on the screen, "...I have confidence in you."

* * *

"What if they do go in?" The helmsman said, his voice quavering.

Seebok thought for a moment, then grimaced. "We have to verify the ship's demise." She said. "We can't leave their destruction to chance. If they go in...we go in."

* * *

"Entering in three, two, one..." Mayweather said, "...now!"

The world outside went black as the ship slewed sideways. Mayweather fought the ship again, this time to right it. Enterprise was being tossed around, and only his herculean efforts brought her back to a proper attitude.

"Sensors are useless, Captain!" T'Pol said. "Hull polarization has failed! Outer hull starting to break up!"

"Get us to the eye, Travis!" Archer called out.

* * *

Osha'ziraan was experiencing the same problems as Enterprise. It was bigger and could take more punishment, but even this ship was being tossed around. The worst part was they couldn't even see the Humans, much less verify their destruction.

* * *

"I think we're almost there!" Mayweather said, after a harrowing journey through the stormy abyss. It was none to soon. The ship was starting to lose medium chunks of hull plating.

"Is that torpedo loaded?" Archer asked when Reed returned to the bridge.

"Loaded and ready!" Reed said. He armed it when he got back to his station.

It came as a shock when the buffeting stopped and they could see outside again. There was a solid wall of clouds again, only this time it was surrounding them. They were inside the eye of the great storm, an expanse of calm in the center only about a few hundred meters wide. Mayweather headed for the direct center and pulled up.

"She's sluggish in the climb!" Mayweather warned. "We must have taken some damage to the impulse engines!"

"Just keep going up, Travis!" Archer said. "Aft view!"

The screen switched to Enterprise's rear camera, showing the dark tunnel of clouds that led to the planet's surface as the ascended. Archer was holding his breath. He couldn't expect the storm to kill the enemy. They would probably find the eye any second now...

"There!" He said as the big ship emerged. "Lock torpedo on target!"

"Locking on!" Reed said as the ship pulled up to pursue them.

Archer waited till they got close, then said "Fire!"

The modified torpedo ejected from the aft tube and sped downward, attracting lightning to it like a superconductor. The area surrounding it glowed with raw baryonic power, turning the torpedo into a packet of ball lightning with a solid core by the time it reached the enemy ship.

The torpedo punched through Osha'ziraan's shielding and slammed into the forward hull before detonating, disintegrating the bridge of the ship and sending shockwaves throughout the structure. The engines went offline immediately, and the burning hulk fell back into the storm.

Mayweather worked the impulse engines hard, fighting the vortex surrounding them and the gravity of the gas giant. His diligence was rewarded. Soon Enterprise was back in orbit, battered and scarred but mostly intact and functioning.

"Damage reports, all decks!" Archer said into the PA.

* * *

"Still no word?" Riyu Cho said. He wished Seebok Choi had not taken it upon herself to lead the mission to kill the Humans. It had been several hours since the base had had contact with Osha'ziraan, and it looked like the attack might have failed.

"Still no word." Suun Rivaksh said.

Riyu thought a moment. It was a setback, certainly, but one they could overcome. They'd just have to put off their plans for a little longer. They had all the time in the universe.

"Very well." He said. "You will be my new viiratu'chann."

Suun smiled. "Thank you, ziraan." She said. "I am honored to serve you."

* * *

"...and we have to replace at least twenty different hull plates." Tucker was saying in Archer's quarters later. He was finishing up the extensive damage report to the Captain.

"All that could take days." Archer said.

"Ten days, fourteen hours and 37 minutes." T'Pol said. "Assuming no problems."

Archer smiled. "Well...maybe we'll be lucky in that respect. The Nomad-gypsies seem to have given up since they lost their big ship."

"Good for us." Tucker said. "We're gonna be laid up in this system a while. We don't need any uninvited guests."

Archer nodded in agreement.

"What will you tell Starfleet?" T'Pol asked.

"Everything." Archer said. "Though I don't know if they'll believe it. An entire race of spies and saboteurs, dedicated to overthrowing the galaxy? How do you counter something like that?"

"Fight fire with fire." Tucker said. "Come up with people that can fight them on their terms."

"It's too big for just another unit of Starfleet. You may need another agency entirely."

"That would require an amendment to the United Earth charter." T'Pol said.

"That's right." Tucker said. "That would make it...what...section 30?"

"Section 31." T'Pol corrected.

Tucker nodded as he and Archer thought about it.

"Ahhh...we probably don't need to do anything that drastic." Archer said. "Besides, Starfleet would never let an organization like that exist. Now let's get back to the repairs. Do we have enough spare uranium to make the hull plating...?"


End file.
